Without ruining the narrative too much, the non-fiction story revolves around the author, his son, and two friends traveling via motorcycle across the United States in an effort to basically "figure things out". The author (given an IQ of 170 at age 9) talks about two perspectives, "Romantic" and "Classical". Motorcycle maintenance is classical, but motorcycle riding is romantic. To quote...

"A classical understanding sees the world primarily as underlying form itself. A romantic understanding sees it primarily in terms of immediate appearance.”

Growing up, I enjoyed building small dams/rock "bridges" in the nearby stream near the house. Rocks fascinated me. So many different shapes, colors, and types! The next day, my creation would likely be gone, deconstructed by nature, but I didn't mind. Whenever it was too dark or cold go outside, I was often found on the computer. It could do so many powerful things! And, everything would stay the same the next day, written meticulously in ones and zeros on a disk platter.

A few years later, due to major life changes and trust issues with entities I thought were "right" my entire life, I revolted. How dare things change! How dare the people society taught me to trust betray me! In retaliation, I was extremely attracted to absolution/rationality. I drowned and nearly killed romanticism entirely, eliminating or running away from anything that was too "rocky". If I didn't understand it, I didn't want to be near it. I immersed myself in the underlying functions, this rational realm of technology and details. The only remnant of romanticism that stayed with me was music, and as as a follower, not a creator.

So, in "Zen", the author's message seemed to be: "Utilize both the romantic and classical together. Find a middle ground." I'm not there yet, but I'm going to try. A little less anxiety/watering down of a topic I'm afraid someone might find weird/not relatable. Decreased turmoil on whether or not I'm using the exact/correct HTTP status response code for an API. And no more concern over whether or not I'm living my life the "right" or "good" way.

"Zen" came out in 1974, over 40 years ago at this point. Many technological advances have come and gone, yet the power of this book's message is still strong.